


3, 2, 1

by La_Reveuse (Lune_qui_vit_dans_ses_Reves)



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Gen, More of a background look at why Simmons left, Slight spoilers for 2x06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 06:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2498759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lune_qui_vit_dans_ses_Reves/pseuds/La_Reveuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>3. For every action there is an equal and opposite action.</p><p>2. The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass. In other words, the more force, the more acceleration.</p><p>1. An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same direction and speed.</p><p>Ever since she was a little girl she had always found peace in the laws of physics. Laws that could be scientifically proven. Laws that left no questions unanswered. Laws that were just that – laws – not theories, but laws. For her, there was simply something comforting found in them. Laws cannot be proven wrong, can they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	3, 2, 1

Ever since she was a little girl she had always found peace in the laws of physics. Laws that could be scientifically proven. Laws that left no questions unanswered. Laws that were just that – laws – not theories, but laws. For her, there was simply something comforting found in them. So comforting that every night as she lay in bed staring up at the glowing stars that gleamed and seemed to smile down at her, stars that she and her mother had faithfully attached to her ceiling –

 

_“No Mum! You can’t put that there! That’s Polaris, the North Star. It has to go by the window, Mummy!”_

_Her mother stared at her for a moment, confusion evident in her eyes._

_“I know that’s not technically where Polaris is located, but Daddy always says that if I ever get lost to look for the North Star and it’ll point me home. So it has to go by the window Mummy! It has to be there so that if anyone is lost, they can see it and find their way home!”_

– she would repeat them softly to herself as she drifted off to sleep led by the soft glow of “Polaris”.

 

* * *

 

3\. For every action there is an equal and opposite action.

 

She should have fought harder. Argued that they still had time to come up with another plan. Forced him to take the mask. Grabbed his arms and held him tightly to her so that he wouldn’t have had the chance to hit that awful button.

 

She should have done something.

 

“He’s going to be okay Simmons. Fitz, he’s a fighter. You’ll see.”

 

Everyone believed that he would recover, but she knew better.

 

It was a simple law of physics really. For every action there is an equal and opposite action. A brain deprived of oxygen for a period of time cannot survive. A leads to B. It was that simple. In saving her life, he had paid with his own. It was just the way physics worked and for the first time in her life, she had found that the laws of physics provided no comfort and that there was no North Star in the sky to lead her home.

 

* * *

 

2\. The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass. In other words, the more force, the more acceleration.

 

In her years with SHIELD she had seen and experienced so many things that she had never imagined could exist. A drug that brought people back to life, a real Asgardian (or two), made friends, no, found a family in the most unlikely group of people, yet she had never thought the day would come where she saw one of Newton’s Laws of Motion being proven untrue.

 

“I… I can’t.” His trembling hands dropped the tools with a force greater than she thought they possessed.

 

She couldn’t stand watching, and wanted nothing more than to run down there and comfort him. However for his sake, she forced herself to stay where she was and continue watching him, his head cradled in his hands, his body shaking and trembling.

 

She had done this to him. He tried so hard everyday, put so much energy into his physical therapy, tried to remember words that now eluded him, and endeavored to work on projects that he used to say a monkey could do. He put forth so much effort, so much force, into his recovery yet there was little progress and no acceleration.

 

“Simmons.” She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

 

“Coulson wants to talk to you.”

 

Nodding silently, she wordlessly got up and followed May. Yet before she closed the door behind her she couldn’t help but glance at the screen.

 

Maybe, just maybe, if the force Fitz was providing wasn’t enough, with her help they could increase the acceleration.

 

* * *

 

1\. An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same direction and speed.

 

It was for the best. Or, at least that was what she was telling herself. Perhaps if she just kept repeating that it was for the best, she would come to believe that it was actually true.

 

It made sense. Truthfully, no, scientifically it did. The first law of motion states, “An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to say in motion with the same direction and speed,” so it wasn’t only scientific, but it was logical.

 

Yet that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

 

She hadn’t wanted to leave. He needed her. However, he wasn’t getting any better. He was stasis. Making no progress. An object at rest. She only hoped that her leaving would provide him with the force he needed to be put into motion and begin making progress.

 

She hadn’t necessarily jumped at the chance to go undercover, but she hadn’t immediately refused either. Her team needed this. Fitz needed this. And she needed a chance to fix everything that had gone wrong.

 

She hadn’t told anyone where she was really going. Agent Coulson, no, Director Coulson and May knew where she truly was, but she had told everyone else that she was taking a short trip to visit her parents. She didn’t think she would ever be able to erase from her memory the look on Fitz and Skye’s faces when she had told them - the evolution from sadness to anger to betrayal to resignation and then back to sadness again, but she clung tightly to the warmth of their hugs. She would need that memory in the coming months. She wasn’t sure when she would see them again, nor how they would react to what she had done, but it was for the best.

 

She grabbed her cup of tea from the counter and moved to sit by the window, her eyes frantically searching the night sky until they fell upon their target.

 

There, shining brightly against the midnight blue tapestry was Polaris, the North Star. The same star that was watching over everyone back at the Playground, the same exact star that Fitz could see every night from his window, and the same star she had left attached to the ceiling above his bed.

 

An object at motion tends to stay in motion until an outside force acts upon it. So until then, until it was time to go home, Polaris would keep watch. And when it was time, it would point her home again.

 

With one last glance out her window and a small, sad smile playing on her face, she whispered, “Goodnight Fitz.”

 

3, 2, 1.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've taken physics, but I haven't been able to get the idea that Jemma enjoys physics out of my head so I decided to write it down instead. I know I did take a few liberties when it came to the application of Newton's Laws of Motion, so please forgive me for that! 
> 
> Also, I do not own any of the character mentioned in this story (or anything else that Marvel owns), only the grammatical mistakes and interestingly phrased syntax! 
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading this and I hope you have/had a wonderful day! :)


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